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News / Northwest

Truant label more likely to go to poor, minority students

By Associated Press
Published: October 8, 2015, 10:06am

OLYMPIA — A new state education report says poor and minority students are more likely to be labeled as truants in Washington.

The Northwest News Network of public radio stations reports Washington’s truancy law says if a student has seven unexcused absences in the month or 10 in a year, he or she is truant. The school district is required to file a truancy petition in juvenile court, but according to the 2015 state truancy report, that only happens in about a third of the cases.

High school students who are reported as truants are disproportionately students of color, low-income students or in special education.

Another finding of the report is that more than 60-percent of high school students who are labeled truant drop out before graduating.

The report recommends the state expand truancy services to all juvenile courts and school districts.

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